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Leigh Turina is Lead Librarian for the IBBY Collection for Young People with Disabilities, which is held at Toronto Public Library in … Continue reading ... →

I found out the Toledo Imagination Station is on the finalist list for the 2016 National Medal for Library and Museum Service. One of the other finalists is The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art (I would love to visit this museum). Today is Very Hungry Caterpillar Day. What could be more appropriate for this day than a book …

A reader sent me some photos of Eric Carle's Have You Seen My Cat? First published in 1973 by Little Simon, it looks like it may have first been published in German, in 1972. It is a Ready To Read book. It is also available as a board book. You can also get it in Dutch. Or Afrikaans.

Here's the synopsis:

In Eric Carle’s charming and popular story, Have You Seen My Cat?, a little boy worries about his missing cat and travels to different places in search of his pet. The boy encounters numerous feline counterparts as he searches, including lions, leopards, and tigers—but it isn’t until the last page that he finally finds his missing pet!

Shanta Newlin has been promoted to vice president at Penguin Young Readers. She will also continue to serve as the executive director of publicity.

Newlin first joined the company back in 2008. In the past, she has held positions at ABRAMS, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, and Random House Children’s Books.

Since Newlin came on board, she has worked on campaigns for several high profile authors including Sabaa Tahir, B.J. Novak, Eric Carle, John Grisham, and the Roald Dahl backlist. She reports to the president of the division, Jen Loja.

Rockefeller Productions is hosting a special performance of its upcoming new puppet show adaptation of Eric Carle’s children’s books as a benefit.

The event, which will take place on February 19th at the 47^th Street Theatre at 11:00am in New York, will benefit the art and literacy programs at The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Massachusetts. The tickets for the benefit cost $75, and include a gift bag, as well as a meeting with a puppet.

The show is based on four of Eric Carle’s stories including: The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse; Mister Seahorse; The Very Lonely Firefly; and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It premiered in January 2015 in Sydney, Australia and is on continuous tour through 2017 in Australia and New Zealand. The show opens in New York on January 30th.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Christmas 1 2 3

by Eric Carle

It’s not “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” but for those parents of very young ones learning how to count this Christmas, here’s a fun and sturdy board book to help with the holiday numbering up to ten!

On each cardboard page, there is that famous hungry caterpillar to espy. Plus kids can count along with the numbers 1-10 seen on each page both as printed word and number; then they are pictured alongside simple things seen this time of year. Here’s a small sample:

                1  One Santa Claus

 

2  Two Christmas trees

 

4   Four holly leaves

 

5   Five snowflakes

 

7   Seven penguins (love this)

 

10   Ten presents

They all culminate with a “Merry Christmas” writ large, alongside a brilliant butterfly.

And when kids ask, “Hey, where did the caterpillar go?, Eric Carle provides the perfect teachable moment for a spontaneous young one’s science tutorial!

Young readers that are just beginning to point, and on the cusp of having a concept of what a number may mean, will enjoy this as a small stocking stuffer, or just a fun read, along with parents or grands.

We’ve collected the books debuting on Indiebound’s Indie Bestseller List for the week ending Nov. 22, 2015–a sneak peek at the books everybody will be talking about next month.

(Debuted at #3 in Hardcover Fiction) The Guilty by David Baldacci: “Will Robie escaped his small Gulf Coast hometown of Cantrell, Mississippi after high school, severing all personal ties, and never looked back. Not once. Not until the unimaginable occurs. His father, Dan Robie, has been arrested and charged with murder.” (Nov. 2015)

(Debuted at #6 in Children’s Illustrated) The Polar Express (The 30th Anniversary Edition) by Chris Van Allsburg: “A young boy, lying awake one Christmas Eve, is welcomed aboard a magical trip to the North Pole…” (Sept. 2015)

(Debuted at #8 in Children’s Illustrated) Dream Snow by Eric Carle: “It’s December 24th, and the old farmer settles down for a winter’s nap, wondering how Christmas can come when there is no snow! It is in his dream that he imagines a snowstorm coming and covering him and his animals—named One, Two, Three, Four and Five—in a snowy blanket.” (Sept. 2000)

The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh will host the “Very Eric Carle” exhibit. The curators drew inspiration from five Eric Carle picture books for this program: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Lonely Firefly, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle, and The Very Busy Spider.

The opening date has been scheduled for June 13th. The exhibition will run at this institution until September 20th.

Carle had this statement in the press release: “I am delighted that the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh is creating an interactive, discovery exhibit inspired by my quintet of ‘Very’ books. I hope young visitors will enjoy moving and exploring throughout the exhibition like the small creatures crawl and move in my books and that the exhibition will be enjoyed by visitors of all ages!”

The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh has partnered with The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art to take Eric Carle’s books and art on the road for the first time.

The Very Eric Carle: A Very Hungry, Quiet, Lonely, Clumsy, Busy Exhibit will open in Pittsburgh on June 13, 2015.

The exhibit will feature the art of children’s book author and illustrator Eric Carle, as well as activities inspired by Carle’s work. These play-and-learn games are based on the books:  The Very Hungry Caterpillar, The Very Quiet Cricket, The Very Lonely Firefly, The Very Clumsy Click Beetle and The Very Busy Spider.  Visitors can:

Philomel, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers Group, will publish Eric Carle’s new picture book, The Nonsense Show.

A release date has been scheduled for October 2015. The executives at the publishing house have ordered a first printing of 250,000 copies.

Carle (pictured, via) gave this statement in the press release: “The Nonsense Show came to me over a long period of time and I had fun working on it. It is a playful word-and-picture game and an upside-down way of looking at life and the world. I like these topsy-turvy points of view. I appreciate the way Surrealist artists like Magritte showed us all in their paintings that you have to keep looking, keeping paying attention. And keep playing.”

It’s holiday time so some shows based on outstanding children’s books are currently being performed in Sydney and surrounds, as well as in other cities around Australia. A highlight is The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Penguin), a production created around four books by Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar, of course, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse – […]

Constable & Robinson, a division of the Little, Brown Book Group in the U.K., has published a parody of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

According to BuzzFeed, The Very Hungover Caterpillar stars an over-inebriated father. The protagonist turns to a number of hangover foods and cures to help with his ailment.

Writers Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees collaborated on the story for this adult-themed picture book. Artist Gillian Johnson created the illustrations. What do you think?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In Eric Carle’s What’s Your Favorite Animal, he collaborates with fourteen renowned children’s book artists to create mini storybooks about a favorite animal.

SALINA YOON is the award-winning author/illustrator of nearly 200 books for children. Check out which picture books are her family's favorites!

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From the creators of BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR, WHAT DO YOU SEE?, this colorful board book will delight fans and garner new ones. With bright, fascinating pictures and exciting slide flaps that reveal animal drawings, this book entrances young readers.

“Mommy,” asked Rilla, “how do illustrators make books?”

She knows how the writing part happens, or at least the part of it that involves someone stalking down the hall into the kitchen, muttering, staring abstractedly into the open fridge, oblivious to questions, and then disappearing back behind a closed door in a room with books piled all over the place. She wants to know about the important part, the pictures.

I start to answer with words, as is my way, but I think better of it and, on a hunch, Google “Eric Carle interview video.” As I hoped, treasure awaited us at the other end of the search button.

ThingsI didn’t know: that Bill Martin Jr (author of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?) couldn’t read until he was twenty! And he wrote the rhythm of his stories first, then put in the words? Astonishing.

Eric Carle speaks of his own struggles in school under a strict disciplinarian teacher. “Back then, they didn’t recognize whether you were learning disabled or whatever. But I’m sure I was.”

And all the while we’re watching him make a bear in collage. I love how he cuts out circles for the bear’s eyes and turns them into ears.

There are many more videos of Mr. Carle at work. Rilla liked this one about her favorite book, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse.

Afterward, we found this nice video for an easy Eric Carle-style collage butterfly project.

If you’re feeling more ambitious, this collage preying mantis is pretty splendid!

All right.  Me stuff off the bat.  I was recently asked to moderate a panel of authors for the Children’s Media Association.  The panel consisted of Ame Dyckman, Joanne Levy, Katherine Longshore, Elisa Ludwig, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, and Sarvenaz Tash.  During the course of the evening it was suggested that we perform a Giant Dance party.  Joanne was kind enough to edit the footage and the results . . . well, here you go.  I’m the one in the middle, for the record.

Goof-tastic!

In other news, NYPL recently turned my Children’s Literary Salon that featured Leonard Marcus talking about the current NYPL exhibit The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter as interviewed by Jenny Brown into a Google+ Hangout.  Here is the gist of it.  You’ll probably want to start watching after the 5 minute mark.  Unless you like watching empty chairs.  In which case, go crazy.

It’s worth it for the info on the ivory umbrella handle info alone.

And since I’m on a roll with the NYPL events, any interest in hearing Leonard Marcus interview Judy Blume and Eric Carle at the same time?  Hit the 9:50 mark on this l’il ole video and it’s all yours.

Okay.  Now it’s time to acknowledge that Halloween is nigh.  Scaredy Squirrel created a PSA / book trailer.  Pretty good, though I’m amused that Scaredy is still drilling home the fear of apples.  In the history of man I’m pretty darn sure no one ever actually put a razorblade in a fruit.  That was a myth.  Ah well.  Scaredy wouldn’t care.  It’s still a potential threat.

In other book trailer news, this one’s pretty cute.  Let’s hear it for effective Flash animation paired with music that bloody gets caught in your brain.

And speaking of earworm music . . .

Everything Goes: By Sea (animated trailer) from Brian Biggs on Vimeo.

And for our off-topic video of the day, technically this is a GIF and not a video but I figure if it moves and slows down my computer’s operating system, that’s close enough for me.  Et voila:

• Oh, so very much has gone on this week!  Where to begin?  What to do?  Well, for starters, NYPL released a handy dandy list to accompany their current exhibit The ABC of It: Why Children’s Books Matter.  I helped make said list, which is officially called 100 Great Children’s Books, 100 Years.  So, two things.  #1: We didn’t say “best” or “most popular”.  We just said great.  These are great books.  Hard to argue with that.  And #2: It’s just the stuff published in the last 100 years.  So before you get your knickers in a twist, there is a reason The Secret Garden, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland are nowhere in sight.  NYPL even lets you buy the books in little packages by age level or the whole kerschmozzle at one time.  Groovy.

• In conjunction with the exhibit and the list, the library brought over Judy Blume and Eric Carle.  So, naturally, when a photograph was to be taken I wedged myself between the two of them.  I intend to blow it up, crop it, and then in fifty years claim to my grandchildren that we were all bestest buddies and this was taken mere moments before we stepped out for some pie.

• And now, on the depressing side of things, Gary Soto explains why I haven’t seen a new children’s title come out of him since I got my library degree.  I just completely missed that entire Marisol debacle.  In 2005 I was a newly minted librarian.  Seems a bit unfair that I just missed the output of Soto.  So come on, man!  That was basically a decade ago.  Time to do with the typey type.

• In happier news, Vermont college offers a scholarship to minority children’s & YA authors.  This fact is accompanied by a killer photo of Angela Johnson.  Worth it right there.

Elephant and Piggie: I Broke My Trunk – Mo Willems

Gerald is careful. Piggie is not. Piggie cannot help smiling. Gerald can. Gerald worries so that Piggie does not have to. Gerald and Piggie are best friends. In I Broke My Trunk! Gerald tells Piggie the long, crazy story about breaking his trunk. Will Piggie end up with a long, crazy story of her own?  Another hilarious escapade starring the Geisel Award-winning duo & vetted by an early-learning specialist

Yoko’s Paper Cranes – Rosemary Wells

Ever since Yoko moved with her Mama from Japan, she misses her Obaasan and Ojiisan (her grandma and grandpa) very much. She especially misses doing origami with them. Luckily, Yoko knows just what to do for Obaasan’s birthday. Yoko’s Paper Cranes is a story about making paper cranes and letting them fly with your heart to those you love, even if they are thousands of miles away.

Un Alce, Veinte Ratones – Clare Beaton

Count the animals from one to twenty while searching for the cat in this lively hide-and-seek selection that introduces animals like frogs, whales, monkeys, ducks, hens and elephants. (Spanish language edition)

Healthy Kids – Maya Ajmera

Photographs showcase the many ways kids around the world can be healthy.

Officer Buckle and Gloria – Peggy Rathmann

Officer Buckle knows more about safety than anyone else in Napville, but his dull presentations put his audiences to sleep. Enter Gloria, Napville’s new police dog. Gloria knows just how to liven up the safety speeches – as long as Officer Buckle’s back is turned! Full color.

Daniel’s Mystery Egg (Bilingual) – Alma Flor Ada

Daniel encuentra en huevo. ¿Qué animal saldrá de aquí?

Daniel finds an egg. What kind of animal will it hatch?

Magic Tree House #42: Good Night For Ghosts – Mary Pope Osborne

Jack and Annie are on their second mission to find—and inspire—artists to bring happiness to millions. After traveling to New Orleans, Jack and Annie come head to head with some real ghosts, as well as discover the world of jazz when they meet a young Louis Armstrong!

The Duckling Gets a Cookie? – Mo Willems

The Duckling asks for a cookie – and gets one! Do you think the Pigeon is happy about that?

Very Hungry Caterpillar (Bilingual) – Eric Carle

Eric Carle’s classic story is now available as First Book’s newest BILINGUAL First Book Marketplace Special Edition.This bilingual edition is available exclusively through the First Book Marketplace!

Piggie Pie! – Margie Palatini and Howard Fine

Gritch the Witch wants piggies for dinner, but when she shows up at Old MacDonald’s farm, the pigs go undercover.

Drummer Hoff (Stories to Go!) – Barbara Emberley

DRUMMER HOFF is a lively folk verse all about the building of a cannon. Brightly dressed in full uniform, each soldier brings a part for the remarkable machine. Corporal Farrell brings the barrel, Sergeant Chowder brings the powder, General Border gives the order-but it’s Drummer Hoff who finally fires it off and explodes the whole rhyme.

The post 11 Books for Back To School 4-8 yrs appeared first on First Book Blog.

The Very Lazy Ladybug by Isobel Finn & illustrated by Jack Tickle Most ladybugs fly from place to place – but not the Very Lazy Ladybug! She would rather sleep all day and all night. But when she decides it’s time to move to a more comfortable place, she has to find some way to …

Beloved children’s author Eric Carle has a new book called Friends coming this Fall. Penguin Young Readers Group’s Philomel imprint will publish the picture book about “the love that binds people and the obstacles they will overcome in order to be together.”

Penguin Young Readers Group president Don Weisberg and Philomel publisher Michael Green negotiated the deal. Philomel plans to print 300,000 copies for the first U.S. printing. Carle explained the book in the release:

Friends dates back to 1952, when I was a 22 year greenhorn who arrived in New York City from Germany, speaking poor English and carrying a cardboard suitcase and a portfolio of my graphic designs. It was my good luck to meet Leo Lionni, then the Art Director of Fortune magazine, who became my mentor. Upon his recommendation I got my first job in the new world as a graphic designer with The New York Times. After that a loose and infrequent friendship with Leo developed that lasted until his death in 1999. Friends started out as a tribute to Leo Lionni, but the story somehow swerved into the story of another friendship, that of two small children. All friendships are somehow connected.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We’re over the moon to have Gayle Brandeis visit TCBR. Gayle is a powerhouse mama, writer, activist, teacher, and all-around lovely person. We’re grateful to her for sharing her family’s favorite books with us.